“The Ancient Ones are enigmatic, unknown. Orothil'Kuntus, our guide, he brought us to our holy temple so that we may learn what they knew. One day. We shall know their desires for us, but until then we study. We analyse. For they have granted us peace and time for which we can learn”
- - High Loresage Tavass VI
The Hermitage To The Chosen Of Orothil'Kuntus, is a collective of offshoot Draconis who through the efforts of the Oikoumene were transplanted to the Unkown regions of the Cyrannus Galaxy millenia before the Draconis of Alcanti ever became a spacefaring civilization. The Hermitage is characterised either by the Loreseekers - who decode and analyse the contents of ancient archives - or the Truthkeepers a discipline order of warriors who dedicate themselves to protect the Hermitage's assets with zealous vigour.
The residents of the Hermitage has come to distrust outsiders and hold a particular distaste for the Cognatus Empire - who although sharing curiosity over the Ancient Ones the Hermitage's citizens study, the two have nonetheless come to blows.
History[]
While the exact date is open for debate, the Hermitage was founded shortly after the discovery of a monitoring station on Tersimus by the locals, who learned that soemtime in 162,480 BNA a sample of the Draconis population on Alcanti had been transferred to thep lanet the monitoring station has been built on. In noting a similarity between one of the staff and an ancient diety the natives worshipped before they were transferred, the native Orothiltastrii came to believe they had been selected by Orothil'Kuntus for a grand plan, brought to Tersimus and away from the tribal wars that engulfed Alcanti. The technology was impossible to understand for the information-age natives and reasoned the monitoring satation was to be kept as ana artifact for further study, giving birth to a cult that treated it as a holy site.
As the Orothiltastrii expanded they colonised hundreds of worlds until in 110,000 BNE one starship crew stumbled upon the location of an abandoned Oikoumene laboratory that had been dubbed Fósepist Station by the previous onwers. Learning of this discovery the cult quickly capitalised on this discovery ,spreading the words this was a sign that Orothil'Kuntus had great plans for them. Before study trams ahd a chance to examine the station the cult took it over and established it as a headquarters.
After a brief yea-long cold war between the cult and the Orothiltastrii government, a deal was settled that the government could ahve access to the station's logs and archives under the cult's supervision. After roughly a century members of the cult born on the station were born with peculiar genetric traits; slighter builds, longer tails, more crescent horns. At first these children were met as frail but as the generations rolled by many of them displayed a startling level of intelligence. Under the guidance of these children the cult grew to envelop the burgeoning Tersimusian empire and established Fósepist as their centre of power.
The mutations found in the station's firstboarn began spreading thoughout the newly-forged society as people grew to accept these offspring as normal members of society. Over the next hundred millenia this new genetic makeup overshadowed the original Draconis genome to leave a transfomred species. FUlly embracing the meaning of their species' name.
As development progressed, the population grew more concerned that their planets were nto as safe as they first thought. Using Fósepist as an inspirration, the dyson structures they had built over dozens of stars were expanded with habitation modules, templates for new Dyson sattelites were planned out and over the course of two millenia the population were transferred to these new structures. The increasing number of pilgrimages to Fósepist further altered the gene pool of the new species as more and more of them gained the genetic code to give birth to more altered hatchlings.
Government[]
The administration arm of the Hermitage si known as the Order of Drakon's permitted, who see themselves divinely charged with carrrying out Drakon's grand design for the collective ethinicity of the Hermitage. While it isquestioned if they were indeed divinely chosen ,the Order serves as both the knowledge-gathering population, administrative division and military branch. Separated into three general orders: The Loreseekers, the Loresages and the Truthkeepers
Loreseekers[]
Loreseekers are archivists and clerks who serve as staff to the more senior loresages. Many in the order start off as an initiate, working their way up to become an apprentice lorekeeper. A solar colony can posess millions as they form the bulk of the knowledge-gathering labour force within the Hermitage's territory. Loreseekers frequently travel beyond the safety of their solar colonies in order to discover more information. As such, most are trained to know basic self-defence techniques but rely on the Truthkeeper order for proper protection.
Loresages[]
Loresages are senior members of the hermitage who are privy to the more important secrets of the hermitage's archives. Great trust is given to each loresage to maintain the secrets they hold. Loresages devote their loves to the gathering and organisation of the information available, particularly from amncient data archives. Loresages act as the librarians and knowledge-keepers of the Hermitage, each Loresage is considered a vital asset of the order and provide a great amount of wisdom, often serving as spiritual guides, lecturers or mentors.
The Hermitage is governed by a council of elders known as the Elder Loresages who manage the empire's day-to-day activities. Loresages are further divided into adepts, journeymen and apprentices. Adepts are collective leaders and act as ranking members of the order below the Elders, to which all orders follow. Journeymen loresages are each placed in charge of a single solar settlement. Each Journeyman is accompanied by between five and thirty apprentice loresages. To become a Loresage is an extreme honour and often takes years of being a Loreseeker first before a senior Loresage considers one worthy to hold rank enough to be privy to the hermitage's more contraversial secrets.
While Loresages are nto trained for combat, a number of them display noticeable mentalist abilities and benefit greatly from a long and active lifespan granted though their practices. it is not uncommon for even a journeyman Loresage to become over a millenium old with time.
Truthkeepers[]
The Truthkeeprs serve as both a standing army and as a guardian force to the Hermitage. Unlike Loreseekers and Loresages, Truthkeepers are trained exclusively for war and are equipped with advanced technology either the Hermitage's scholars have devised themselves, or possibly gleaned from archival notes. Truthkeeprs as a result are equpped with effective power armour and weaponry and are recognised by their ornate laminated armour.
As well as acting as an army, Truthkeepers - particularly lower-ranking officers - act as a police force on the solar colonies. All Truthseekrs start out as Neyarsehvii (neophytes). With experience in the field they become Hallus'Dromivaii (Aegis-bearers). Sepvenii (guardians) serve as field officers commanding lower-ranking Truthseekers in battle and are often given a cohort of thirty men. Successful Sepvenii rise to become Korvonhii (templars) who are ranking commanders i nthe field. Korvonni also serve as ship commanders, with dedicated fleet-bound Korvonii serving as ranking captains in the sacred fleet. The champions of the Truthkeeper order are the Vanhar'Thavii (dragon-blood) who serve as generals. A particularly successful Vanhar'Thavii would eventually rise to become a Khonsovus (paladin), who serve as both a senior commander and an elite bodyguard to the higher-ranking Loresages. A reserved cohort of Khonsovii serve as bodyguards to the Elder Council. The highest ranknig of all in the Truthkeeprs is the Magnu'Korvonhus (grand templar), who acts as the supreme commander of the entire Truthseeker order. While Khonsovii can be anywhere between 700 and 900 years old, it is rare to find a Magnu'Korvonhus under 1200 years old. While old, implants and conditioning allow the Magnu'Korvonhus to fight as ably as any soldier.
Society[]
Culture[]
The Hermitage is a primarily theocratic society that appears to have been heavily inluenced by Oikoumene sources. Their creative arts draw heavily from stories and legends of warriors hand bocked by "the Ancient Ones" to perform great deeds. Contrary to other depictions, many pieces of art portray the Oikoumene as nondescript entities of of light. Appearing as beacons as pooised to shapes of lifeforms to ocmfort the eye. Such figures in art are differentiated from each other by variations of shape, colour and light patterns with each individual in the Hermitage's pantheon having a unique design of light to it. For instance Orothil'Kuntus being the primary figure in Orothiltastrnan mythology, is typicalyl depicted as a white light with a gold halo with two wing-like shapes of light at its sides.
Educaion is largely parochial in regards to sources. Knowledge learned from archibes is treated as a sacred kind of knowledge although for the most part the society's understanding of science and sociology are on-par with vastly more secular societies of a similar technological level.
Due to the colour-coded nature of the way their divine beings are portred, the Hermitage places symbolic meaning and importance on colour, with whit and gold being seen as the most divine and pure colour and black being a nihlistic colour associated with the absence of everything, particularly purity.
Beliefs[]
Most of the Orothiltastrii population believe they were chosen by Drakon (whom they call Orothil'Kuntus, his original Faroulan Dracid name) for a grand purpose. While it is not clear what purpose they were given, many believe it is to learn and eventually inherit the secrets of the Oikoumene, who they refer to as "the Ancient Ones". They treat Fósepist - a repurposed space station the Oikoumene once owned - as a holy site and access to the central archives is restricted to all but the msot trusted of loresages.
Orothiltastrii convey their faith through prayer, contemplation and the study of ancient records and archives, a task they deem a divine duty. Conversely, the Hermitage's loreseekers consider it an act of sacrilege to phyically reverse engineer the station's technologies, believing that to merely take apart the constructs of the ancients is an offense to their name. Instead of studying such relics, the Hermitage prefers to study ancient records to find the answers they seek.
Astrography[]
Primarily located within in a stellar cluster within uncharted perts of the unknown regions, most of the hermitage's populations are situated on star-orbiting Dyson stations. The Hermitage lays claim to some 12,000 solar systems, with the planets being either unused or home to outposts or sacred sites the hermitage deems important.
There are sparse poulaions living on a few habitable planets, most of which are planetside refuges away from the bulk of the population where members live simply for various reasons. The Orothiltastrii frequently move in and work to maintain ruins they consider of cultural or historic significance to galactic history, sometimes creating improvised barracks to sleep and pray if there are no surviving caacomadations to eb found in such places.
The centre of Herimate power however is Fósepist. Once an ancient laboratory in orbit around the parent star of the Fivina system, the Orothiltastrii discovered the derelict space station circa 110,000 BNE and in treating it as a holy site made it their official headquarters. Only the most trusted of Loresages have access to its deeper secrets and many of the Hermitage's citizens try and make pilgrimage to the station once every few years.
Major Species[]
- Author: Monet47
- Classification: 4D
- Notable physical characteristics: Reptillian body plan, enhanced intelligence, enhanced lifespan
- Notable sociological characteristics: Majority population living on space habitats, theocracy, reverence of the Oikoumene
it's founders and perhaps the only species who call the Hermitage home, the Orothiltastrii [Dracid: Chosen of the Worldfather] are a race of winged reptiles with direct ancestry to the Draconis of the Andromeda Galaxy. It is believed they originated from a cluster of Draconis transferred to Cyrannus by the Oikoumene sometime around 162,000 BNA and left to develop on the surface of Tersimus, a planet somewhere in the Unknown Regions.
The eventual dsicovery that they were a small group transplanted to Cyrannus has unified them culturally, believing that their god had a grand plan in mind for them. As a species they evolved distinctly from the draconis society on Alcanti, wheras the Draconid Imperium sought to expand and make their presence, the Orothiltastrii were content to improve their holdings in their local star cluster, rarely travelling otuside it other than to search for other artifact locations to study.
Unlike Draconis, Orothiltastri are not opposed to modifying their bodies. Through explainations unknown, they have been transforming ever since their habitation of Fósepist and their bodies are slimmer than those of Draconis with elongated tails. Their brains have also evolved differently, gaining a fourth layer to their brains while only a few Draconis posessa vestigial fourth layer. Like their cousins, Orothiltastrii have an extraordinary eye for beauty and detail, and enjoy adorning the walls of theri habitats in white metal and gold along with creating numeorus divine-looking imagery.
Notable Individuals[]
- Name - Lumirios Sutorius
- Age - 750 years
- Role - Loresage Chancellor
Lumirios Sutorius serves as the spokesman for the Elder Council and oversees the Hermitage's activities with his fellows within the grand cahmber of Fósepist. An old but keen scholar, Lumirios has spent centuries studying and decoding the secrets of Fósepist's archives. He guards the secrets he has learned with a religious zeal and even when sitting at the Elder Council takes up his days, has come to learn secrets that none of the other elders know.
Whether or not this knowledge is related to his potent psychic cababilities is unknown for certain and he often keeps to himself outside the chambers of the Elder Council. Enigmatic and charismatic, Luminos has used his knowledge to ascend in rank among the Loresages.
- Name - Tarsin Vamarimus
- Age - 1209 years
- Role - Warmaster of the Hermitage's Truthkeepers
A grizzled veteren with over a millenium of experience as a soldier, Tarsin is a ruthless, efficient and disciplined soldier and commander. Inspired by the legends of the warrior chieftans and kings of pre-transferrence Draconis society, Tarsin has honed his vibroblade and warhammer skills to the point where he treats every swing like the stroke of a brush across a canvas. A sure-footed man Tarsin is famous among Truthkeeper dueling circles as "the Sword-Dancer" for his elegant footwork in the midst of a close-combat fight.
Outside of duelling circles and duty, Tarsin is a closeted poet, believing that the discipline of a trained warrior can easily translate as a way to write structured and elegant poetry. However he is shy about showing his work publicly and keeps a myriad number of personal poems stored on a password-locked datapad he keeps close by to him.
As a warrior of the Hermitage, he is known for his serious tone and no-nonsense attitude, frequently speaking only when something absolutely has to be said.
Relations[]
Allies[]
“The ancient ones smile upon you!.”
Neutral[]
“What business do you have with the archivists of the Ancients?”
- Galactic Empire of Cyrannus - We care only that the knowledge of the Ancient Ones is understood.
Enemies[]
“Our intentions are ones of no ill-will. But you have forced us otherwise”
- Cognatus Empire - They defile and destroy, all in the name of the Ancient Ones. Such sacrilage...
Fearing[]
“The light of the Ancients protect us!”
- Neraida Gigamatrix - The soulless ones swallow everything with no remorse, no care...they are madness incarnate
Quotes[]
“The Ancients' knowledge belongs to us. Prepare for assimilation.”
“Heathens! Their knowledge will become ours, for we are the chosen children of the gods! Not these heretics!”
“I have little time for superstitious nonsense. Not that I hold anything against those who do.”
“Blah! Arrogant snobs... this knowledge is Cognatus and Cognatus alone!”
- - Nanak
